novelsite Chapter 54 Zhang Hao, an international student
Chapter 54 Zhang Hao, an international student
The next stop was an electronics distribution center in the west of the city. Wang Zhengyang chose a route that passed through several university campuses, deliberately slowing down his car.
At 9:30 a.m., the truck stopped at a red light.
On the sidewalk next door, seven or eight young people with Asian faces were gathered together, their atmosphere distinctly different from the leisurely Berliners around them. They spoke Chinese, their accents mixed, but their anxiety was shared.
"...Brother Li, you really shouldn't go to that Turkish logistics company!" A young man wearing black-rimmed glasses and carrying a backpack with the logo of the Technical University of Berlin said urgently. His Mandarin had a soft, Jiangzhe accent, but he used his words efficiently. "They use short-term contracts to evade social security, and it's extremely difficult to get work injury certification. Three of my compatriots have already injured their hands there and ended up getting nothing in return."
The man he was trying to persuade was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old, wearing work pants stained with engine oil, a half-smoked cigarette between his fingers, his brows furrowed: "Zhang Hao, I understand the道理 (dàolǐ, principle/reasoning). But I have to pay the rent next Monday, and the extracurricular activity fees for my child's school are two weeks overdue. Your sister-in-law cried on the phone, saying I'm a useless father..."
"I'll lend you the rent first!" The bespectacled boy, called Zhang Hao, said without hesitation. "My scholarship just came in, so I have some extra money. We'll find a job slowly. What about that PLC programming certificate you got at the Siemens training center? Show it to me!"
A tall, thin man next to him shook his head with a wry smile: "Zhang Hao, you international students have so many connections. For us skilled immigrants, German is just a tool; we don't even know which way the doors of big companies open. For any decent job, as soon as they see 'Chinese experience' on the resume, it's like throwing a stone into the sea."
A middle-aged man with a dark complexion, squatting on the curb, spoke sullenly. His left index finger was wrapped in cheap gauze: "I interviewed for a maintenance position on an automated production line last week. I passed all the technical questions. In the end, the German manager smiled and said to me, 'Your professional skills are excellent, but our team needs someone who is more… well, more suited to German work culture.'" He spat, "Culture my ass! They just think I'm not white!"
Wang Zhengyang's gaze calmly swept over the group. His perception, granted by a 0.55% mechanical affinity, unfolded in a more subtle way. He could not only sense metal, but also detect the extremely weak biomagnetic fields formed by the flow of trace metal elements within the human body, as well as the microbial electrical signals generated when muscles tensed or emotions fluctuated. Within his perceptual "field of vision":
The man squatting (Old Li) has a slight bone fracture under the gauze on his left index finger, which is not healing well; his right trapezius and supraspinatus muscles have severe chronic strain, which should be caused by maintaining a twisted posture for a long time while performing precision operations.
Zhang Hao (the boy with glasses) has an active and orderly biomagnetic field, and the electrical signal activity in his brain regions is significantly stronger than that of ordinary people, exhibiting highly logical fluctuation characteristics. His cervical and lumbar spine are in relatively good condition, but there are slight but repetitive signs of fatigue in certain muscle groups of his right thumb and index finger—the result of long-term use of a specific type of programmer or debugging tool.
Lin Luo'er suddenly rolled down the car window and called out uncertainly, "Senior Zhang Hao?"
The bespectacled boy turned around at the sound, paused for a couple of seconds, and then his face lit up with surprise: "Lin Luo'er? What are you doing in Berlin?"
"The project requires me to come over for a while." Lin Luo'er opened the car door and walked over. Wang Zhengyang also got out of the car and leaned against the hood of the truck, maintaining an observer's distance.
"This is Wang Zhengyang, the project leader," Lin Luo'er introduced briefly, her gaze sweeping over the group with concern. "Senior, what's going on here...?"
Zhang Hao quickly explained the situation with a wry smile: Old Li is an automated production line debugger with excellent skills, but language and "cultural adaptation" are obstacles; the tall, thin man who spoke earlier is an electrical engineer, skilled in frequency converters and high and low voltage power distribution, but he is running into problems with the German certification system; the one squatting is a fitter technician who injured his hand and cannot find work in the short term; and the other two are recent graduates majoring in mechanical engineering and materials science, who are having difficulty finding internships.
"Luo'er, is your project... short-staffed?" A seemingly honest and sturdy young man mustered his courage to ask, his palms calloused. "I'm strong, willing to learn, and can handle loading, unloading, moving, and installation without any problem!"
Lin Luo'er looked at Wang Zhengyang with a troubled expression.
Wang Zhengyang walked over, his tone calm but direct: "Give me specific skills, skills that allow you to start working immediately. No fluff."
The crowd fell silent for a moment, then a cacophony of voices, each with a clear purpose, broke out:
"I'm proficient in Siemens S7-1200/1500 series PLC programming, familiar with TIA Portal, and I've done a full automation upgrade of a small packaging production line!" Old Li was the first to speak, his eyes eager.
"I am skilled in the deployment and debugging of industrial sensor networks. I have practical experience in deploying visual recognition, laser ranging, and temperature and pressure sensing systems." The tall, thin electrical engineer spoke quickly.
"I can process materials from drawings. I can do turning, milling, planing, grinding, and drilling. The accuracy can be down to 0.01 millimeters. I've trained three apprentices," the fitter said in a low voice.
Zhang Hao adjusted his glasses and added, "My personal research focuses on predictive maintenance and distributed control systems for industrial equipment. I'm familiar with industrial communication protocols like Modbus and Profinet. I have no problem reading and writing German technical documents."
Wang Zhengyang listened quietly, his brain processing the information at lightning speed. Electrical automation, industrial control, precision machining, communication protocols—this combination of skills perfectly matched the needs of the Longyuan's next stage of in-depth modification, especially the planned fully automated monitoring and defense system. More importantly, these were people who had struggled to survive in a foreign land using their skills; their resilience, adaptability, and thirst for opportunity far exceeded those of ordinary people.
After the apocalypse in his previous life, he witnessed many skilled Chinese people in Europe being marginalized and even becoming victims in the initial chaos due to a lack of organization and voice. If only initial contact and observation could have been established while order still existed…
"Leave a contact method." Wang Zhengyang took out a notepad from the car and wrote down the temporary email address set up by Li Ming, which had encryption and automatic filtering functions. "The core team for the project is currently full. However, in three days, a batch of monitoring and sensing equipment needs to be installed and debugged, including multi-line laser radar, thermal imagers, and distributed acoustic sensor arrays. Temporary technical support is needed, 200 euros per day, cash payment. If you are interested, please send a brief skill description and your available time to this email address before 8 pm tonight."
The crowd immediately stirred. 200 euros a day was extremely high pay for temporary work. Several people quickly took out their phones to record the email addresses.
Zhang Hao's eyes lit up, and he pressed on, "Mr. Wang, what specific type of installation and debugging is it? Does it involve wiring specifications, signal calibration, and system integration?"
"It involves," Wang Zhengyang said succinctly. "It requires familiarity with industrial standard cabling, the ability to adjust installation parameters according to the site environment, and the ability to conduct preliminary signal quality and coverage tests. Teamwork and efficiency are very important."
"No problem for us!" Old Li immediately declared. "We've worked together before, we have a good understanding!"
"Okay." Wang Zhengyang nodded, his gaze lingering on Zhang Hao's face for a moment. "You'll be in charge of initial coordination and skill matching. Compile the list and available time slots tonight and send it to me."
This presents both an opportunity to earn much-needed cash and a chance for discreet observation and screening. Under pressure and in collaboration, it's easier to discern a person's technical skills, sense of responsibility, and whether they are worthy of further contact.
The light turned green. Urged on by the honking of cars behind them, Wang Zhengyang and Lin Luoer got back into their car and drove away amidst the grateful and expectant gazes of the crowd.